Federalism, the Constitution and a DOJ Blowing Smoke

If the president wants to decriminalize marijuana, he should push Congress to change the law.

Sept. 11, 2013 2:33 p.m. ET

Maybe the Journal's editors need to smoke whatever they must be smoking in the White House and chill out a bit about the Obama administration's disregard for federal drug laws ("The Beltway Choom Gang," Review & Outlook, Sept. 5). Laws passed by Congress, unlike the president's red lines in the sand, are malleable, and the supremacy of federal versus state law is a matter of political context. Blue-state laws typically pass muster, while red-state laws (addressing voter ID, immigration enforcement, school choice, etc.) are attacked by the Justice Department.

If the president wants to decriminalize marijuana, the proper democratic process, as the editors indicate, is to push Congress to change the law. Ignoring laws or negating parts of laws by presidential decree undermines trust in our system of governance and respect for the rule of law. Does it really matter anymore?

Gene Brady

Lutherville, Md.

You say that the effect of the latest memorandum from the Justice Department concerning enforcement of marijuana laws will be that "no prosecutor who cares about his career . . . will bring another marijuana case." I read the memo differently. I choose to interpret the memo as a last reminder to Colorado (and Washington state) of minimum standards that will be enforced.

In Colorado there will be no limitations on marijuana-infused edible products. Consumers will be able to buy soda pop, lollipops, gummy bears and chocolate bars (the list goes on for more than 60 different products) infused with marijuana. The industry has repeatedly claimed that making marijuana candy isn't marketing to children. Yet the facts prove otherwise.In Colorado, there will also not be a reasonable limit on consumers' ability to purchase almost pure marijuana concentrate.

My organization, Smart Colorado, worked for months last spring at the state legislature for laws placing limitations around marijuana edibles and high-potency marijuana products. Unfortunately, nothing was done regarding edibles and concentrate. I hope and expect the federal government and our U.S. attorney, John Walsh, to immediately commence civil and criminal proceedings to protect our children.

Rachel Charles O'Bryan

Denver

Yes, President Obama could lead the marijuana law-reform debate. Once again the people are leading and the politicians are merely following the opinion polls. A little leadership would go a long way toward putting an end to a disastrous public policy that has done little other than burden millions of otherwise law-abiding citizens with criminal records. The war on marijuana consumers is indefensible. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidize drug cartels, prohibition is a grand success.

If the goal is to deter use, marijuana prohibition is a catastrophic failure. The U.S. has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where marijuana is legal. The criminalization of Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis has no scientific basis. The war on marijuana consumers is a failed cultural inquisition, not an evidence-based public-health campaign. It's time to stop the arrests and instead to tax legal marijuana.

Robert Sharpe

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington

Last November, voters in Colorado and Washington approved referenda that essentially repealed their state criminal statutes pertaining to marijuana possession. Since federal law is unaffected by that, the doctrine of federal supremacy is not in play.

There is a historical precedent for all this. The misguided policy of alcohol prohibition did not unravel all at once. It began when states like New York repealed their criminal bans. In a few more years, most states will regulate marijuana like liquor and the federal law will eventually follow.

Tim Lynch

Cato Institute

Washington

Surely the Obama administration deserves credit, not blame, for declining to waste more taxpayer dollars trying to override state marijuana laws.

The Justice Department has already wasted nearly half-a-billion dollars to investigate, raid, arrest, prosecute and imprison hundreds of medical-marijuana offenders in states where it is legal. The DOJ is in no way obliged to launch litigation against state-approved marijuana laws, nor to seek out further violators in the absence of actual victims.

The federal war on marijuana is a sterling example of out-of-control, counterproductive, constitutionally dubious big government run amok. Polls show that 70% of Americans oppose federal interference in state marijuana laws.

Dale Gieringer

Director

California Norml

San Francisco

I'm hoping now the voters in my state will follow up with a referendum to exempt all Washington state residents from the federal income tax.

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